Lafayette's second fire station on line for spring opening

Aiming to meet maximum of 5-minute response on city's south end

Lafayette's south fire station on Exempla Circle is nearing completion.
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It has been nearly a decade in the making, but Lafayette's second fire station is finally nearing completion.

The Lafayette Fire Department's south fire station, at 511 Exempla Circle, is scheduled to start fielding calls this spring, with a community grand opening celebration slated for June 4.

When the fire department completed its master plan in 2002, it identified the inevitable need for a second fire station on the south side of the city in order to properly serve Lafayette's projected -- and now current -- population of approximately 25,000.

Last year, the city formed a special improvement district to fund a second station. In July, the groundbreaking took place for station No. 2, an 11,000-square- foot facility, just northeast of the Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center campus.

The south station features three vehicle bays and living quarters, with a primary response zone including all areas of the city south of South Boulder Road.

In order to adequately serve a community, National Fire Protection Association standards require fire departments to arrive at the scene of an emergency in five minutes or less, with at least 90 percent consistency.

With the continued expansion of the Prana apartment complex and the Good Sam Medical Center, the fire department was challenged to meet its own expectations on the 1,800-plus calls it responds to annually.

"The south edge of the city is a challenge for us," Lafayette Fire Chief Gerry Morrell said. "It takes us more than our five-minute goal to get to the SouthPoint neighborhood near Exempla hospital."

The south fire station, which will be called simply Fire Station No. 2, came at a price tag of $2.3 million.

The department, which has 18 career firefighters and 15 reserves, has yet to determine how it will staff each of its two stations.

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